Home
by BaranoShiko
Summary: Home. Nothing more, nothing less. Future fic, AU fic.


Argh :Glares at Mr. Elephant: I. Hate. You.

One Piece fic. Future fic idea that wouldn't leave me alone. To be on the safe side, since I'm not up-to-date on the storyline of either the manga or anime, I'm saying this is AU.

Summary - Home. Nothing more nothing less.

Made up of six short snapshots. Five are 200 words and the last is 500.

Disclaimer – I don't even **watch/read** One Piece regularly, let alone own it! Yet somehow I still ended up writing a fic about it. Huh.

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Home

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Age : 10 years

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She grimaced as she rubbed the cloth down the blade again. She hated swords. At least she used to. Now, her duty to them was all that kept her from filling a worse duty to her slave master.

The ship rocked as the cannons went off.

Putting down the cloth she held the curved blade up. It gleamed in the light from the porthole. Done. She smiled at it as she neatly re-sheathed it.

A commotion in the hall drew her attention. Opening the door a crack, she caught sight of the two guards flying against the wall. Seconds later a man with two swords, drawn and bloody, gave her a glance before disappearing.

She heart flared. That bastard hadn't even taken the time to remove her chains!

The stupid rubber captain of the ragtag crew that rescued the slaves laughed later as he told her that that bastard was his first-mate, Roronoa Zoro and that he was going to be the best swordsman in the world.

It was after the bastard Zoro called her a sniveling slave brat that she decided she was going to take the title of greatest swordsman from him, former dislike of swords or no.

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Age : 11 years

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It was a year later that she finally caught up with sensei. The stupid old man wouldn't stay in one place long enough for her to find him. She asked him to teach her.

He refused.

She followed him. Each day he made dinner for both of them and each day she would ask him again. He never said yes.

She continued to follow him. If he stopped, she stopped. When he rested, she took out the sword she'd taken from her master and practiced. She always kept one eye on sensei so he couldn't leave without her. She got used to short naps.

It was three months later that they were involved in a scuffle with soldiers. Sensei had a bounty on his head. She fought next to him. The soldiers called her his student. She knew better. Sensei called them idiots for thinking such. Sensei had a sprained wrist and she had a fractured forearm. The doctor muttered something about stupid teachers. She corrected him. Sensei didn't hear him.

It was four months after it began that he corrected her stance as she practiced. She asked him again. He refused.

The cycle continued.

He didn't stop correcting her.

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Age : 16 years

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The news of Roronoa Zoro's defeat of Mihawk reached sensei through the grapevine. He mentioned it over dinner. She scowled at the soup and told sensei that she was going to beat that bastard someday.

Sensei sipped his soup and didn't say anything.

The next day he began fighting her for practice. She asked him to teach her. He refused and told her he's only practicing.

A new cycle began to turn.

News reached them occasionally of a challenger being defeated by Zoro. On those days she'd grind her teeth and mutter about the bastard and how he'd better wait for her to defeat him. Sensei would smile and soundly beat her in his practice match.

The new cycle replaced the old one.

Three years and she was holding her own against sensei. She continued to ask for his teaching and he still refused. She knew he was lying and smiled.

One year and they stop in a port where sensei tells her to go away – she's weak and she'd better start training for that goal. She knew they'd miss each other. She didn't know the term.

She booked passage on a ship. She learned that the term was 'nakama'.

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Age : 20 years

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She sailed. She found a crew just about as ragtag as the one that had saved her years ago. Good people; kind and warm hearted, but slightly strange. She fit right in.

She wasn't bothered. She took care of her sword, took her share of chores and was dutiful at watch. She didn't answer when her reasons for taking to the sea came up. The crew respected her silence. She respected theirs.

The meeting with Zoro was unexpected but not unwelcome. She tested her skills. He defeated her easily. She spat in his face. He told her she was stupid to fight him with such pitiful skills. She laughed and told him at least she wasn't a 'sniveling slave brat' anymore. Something crossed his face and disappeared. He told her to get stronger and to find something else to do besides fight him. Then he vanished.

It took the doctor a long time to get her to stop laughing and treat her wounds.

A year later they set sail for the Grand Line and she stood in the stern watching the sun set. Her lover stood beside her with a hand on her waist. Her hand rested on her sword.

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Age : 21 years

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Years passed. The government changed hands and the pirate king continued to rule. Storms still blew over the water.

Her crew stayed together. They were family and more.

The captain still used yelling to communicate with everyone, but sometimes that loud voice softened and whispered and showed how affected their captain could be by tragedy or great excitement.

The two chefs still bickered like an old married couple complete with the threats of sleeping on the couch. The two managed to keep the rest of them fed with good food on the table no matter what form their arguments and teasing took. The rest of the crew began counting the days until one or the other proposed.

The doctor still said more in looks and gestures then in words. Lost legs meant nothing to the quiet soul. Self-sufficient determination was slowly tempered by the rest of the crew. It became common to see one or more of the crew carrying their doctor from one part of the ship to another.

Her lover still looked at her as if she were the only person that mattered, and the gentleness of their relationship didn't waver as the yeas washed over their lives. (1)

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Age : 30 years

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She breathing was shallow, his was steady. Her single sword was pointed at his heart. His lay scattered around on the ground. She cursed, his lips twitched in what might have been a smirk.

"You let me win."

He didn't answer as he stepped back from her sword. Her arm lowered, the sword point nearly touching the ground.

Her chest heaved and her mind whirled as he walked past her. Picking up and sheathing his swords he stood still as a statue watching the sunset. She looked over at her crewmates, her nakama. Her lover offered her a small smile, as their gentle hands wrung their shirt.

Two sheathed swords thudded at her feet, wrenching her attention back to the greatest swordsman in the world. "Find someplace for them. They have no place where I'm going."

His dark eyes glanced over to her crewmates. Her grip on her sword tightened and she tensed to defend them. He snorted. "I'm not going after your home."

"Home?"

He had turned away. The light of the sun threw his face into sharp contrast. He was silent for a long while. She didn't speak either. "A warm room, a warm meal, a warm heart …" His voice trailed off. His next words were a whisper. "The arms of the most precious person in the world …"

For a moment, she could see something other then the greatest swordsman in the world. A bight spark lit his eyes as he spoke. Somewhere, his lover was waiting for him to come back; to come home. He heart had counted the days he was away and the separation was finally over. He had passed the title on.

He shook his head and the lover was gone, replaced by the swordsman. His boots crunched on the stone as he walked away. Slowly she picked up the swords he'd left her.

"Fair winds and safe journey to you, sir." The old sea farewell sounded odd as she spoke it. His head was bowed slightly, but he raised a hand in acknowledgment. Gripped tightly in that hand was his sword. The light of the setting sun glinted off a sheath that might have, at one time, been white.

Without waiting to watch him go, she turned a stepped towards her nakama. Soon they were surrounding her, the doctor checking her over for injuries. Her lips curved into a smile at their concern and congratulations. As soon as the doctor was done her lover's arms slipped around her.

The youngest member of the crew glanced at where Roronoa Zoro had walked away. "Where is he going?"

She didn't look as she answered. "Home. He's going home."

They understood. The next morning they set sail for the Grand Line again. She stood in the stern again, encircled in the arms of her lover. She returned the embrace as the sun rose. Her sword lay silently on the covers of her bunk below deck, unneeded for the moment. Not here. Not at home.

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The End 

If it seems choppy, it's kinda supposed to. These are just short looks at this girl's life. (As a note - Zoro is about 14 years older then her is I did my math right)

I tried to keep things neutral, only putting in genders for a couple people and not assigning names.

(1) - Thank you to Sir Gwain of Camelot for helping with this previously horrible sentance!

(2) - To avoid confusion - the sensei that is refered to in the second and third sections is not Zoro, he just a swordsman that she hears about and decides to pester for training.

I'm thinking of writing a couple more in this style - for different fandoms though. I'd really appreciate any feedback on the style. Thank you!


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